Bedside inoculation of blood culture bottles with ascitic fluid is superior to delayed inoculation in the detection of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis.
Ascitic fluids from patients suspected of having spontaneous bacterial peritonitis were inoculated into blood culture bottles (i) at the bedside and (ii) in the laboratory after a delay. In 29 episodes in which the bedside bottles were culture positive, only 22 (75.9%) of the laboratory-inoculated sets demonstrated growth; this difference was statistically significant (P less than 0.02).
Runyon
B A
BA
Liver Unit, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles 90033.
Antillon
M R
MR
Akriviadis
E A
EA
McHutchison
J G
JG
D001202:Ascitic Fluid / Q000382:microbiology*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D006801:Humans; D010538:Peritonitis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013997:Time Factors